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SyndicateSwinging at Leaves
By Robert Ringer - Saturday, January 24, 2009
By “Reality Seeker†(subscriber Guy Phillips)
The beginning of the 44th presidency and its “success†reminds me of Jimmy Carter’s 39th: America was suffering the after-effects of an expensive war, a bad economy, an energy crisis, a weak stock market, and an overall disgust with the Republican Party — kind of like what’s happening now.
President Carter, like number 44, was supposed to turn it all around. He was a man of the people, somebody the common individual could relate to — somebody who wore blue jeans in the White House. Yes, Carter was a man just like you and me — if, that is, you and I believed government could solve more problems than it created.
The hopes and dreams of that time were as high as the soaring rhetoric. I hope things turn out differently this time around, but I won’t be holding my breath. I’m sorry to throw verbal ice water on all the warm and fuzzy optimism surrounding number 44, but optimism without a realistic plan is nothing more than false hope.
It’s my educated guess that the second term Jimmy Carter didn’t achieve will be realized by a new generation of socialists and community organizers — led by number 44, who has been promoted from community organizer to country organizer. For him, this will be like “herding cats†— big cats, as in rabid lions and tigers.
Yes, history is being made, but maybe not the kind that the collectivist masses might think. It seems that the gradualism F.A. Hayek spoke about is accelerating exponentially, right before our eyes, into something like greased lightning.
Important history is being made, but few are taking note. Why? Maybe it’s partly because of the dis-education that mainstream news analysts and commentators received in school (a.k.a The Dis-Education System).
These free-press guardians of the republic and democracy are hardly worth watching on TV. Reading Henry David Thoreau is time better spent. He said something that is applicable not only to news professionals but to our generation as a whole: “For every one man that is chopping at the root, a thousand are swinging at the leaves.â€
Socialism, its leaders, and many of those who report the news always seem to expend more effort on the “leaves†of an inveterate problem than they do on its root cause. Case in point: When will people learn that the painful consequences resulting from a deliberate choice that has been made should not be lessened by spreading the pain and/or costs associated with it to individuals who have chosen a less painful, wiser, and/or more enriching alternative? I say, let the self-inflicted pain take its course, let it educate, and let it serve as a reminder.
Socialists love to reward bad choices by spreading around both the wealth and pain. Those who support redistribution really support swinging at the leaves of a problem. Those who support and encourage allowing the natural consequences of bad choices to take their course are chopping at the root.
In my opinion, the entire system will probably fail before real change can be established. And just what does one look for as a sign of the imminent failure of our government? In a word, hyperinflation — a totally out-of-control hyperinflation that destroys the almighty dollar.
As long as the dollar survives and trillions can be printed up at ever increasing speeds, we can all “muddle through†as one big socialist village. And number 44, along with number 42’s wife and friends, with all their socialist ideals, will have a measure of “success.â€
By the way, one thing that the inauguration of number 44 has proven without a doubt is that millions of naive people are still very quick to gulp down the flood of specious, idealistic, collectivist rhetoric — the kind the entire country is now swimming in. In fact, at this point in time, it’s a very good thing that we human turtles can float without drowning in all that intimidating Orwellian doublespeak — and all the coercive rhetoric that’s sure to follow.
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Copyright © 2012 Robert Ringer
ROBERT RINGER is a New York Times #1 bestselling author and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. He has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, The Tonight Show, Today, The Dennis Miller Show, Good Morning America, The Lars Larson Show, ABC Nightline, and The Charlie Rose Show, and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.
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8 Responses to “Swinging at Leaves”
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Well said, Guy! You’ve made it both concise and correct. One point: Much of Carter’s failure will be attrubuted to his “starry-eyed evangelical Christian approach” to everything…while Obama surely won’t bear the “burden” of such a strong belief system! All it really means is that socialism, no matter how it is disguised or obfuscated, remains the same insidious, creeping plague it has always been.
I guess it could now be said that the USA is an Obama-nation??!
“In my opinion, the entire system will probably fail before real change can be established. And just what does one look for as a sign of the imminent failure of our government? In a word, hyperinflation — a totally out-of-control hyperinflation that destroys the almighty dollar.”
Hmm, should be quite a show when the leeches lose their host and are suddenly responsible for their own welfare. No more affirmative action, no more welfare, no more Social Security, no more medicare, no more freebies. You either make yourself valuable and trade it for an equal value or you starve.
I wonder how many people will be able to make the change.
There is a bit of a silver lining in the clouds of the gathering storm. Statists have been changing the rules over a time period spanning generations. However the process seems to be accelerating. The bad news is more statism. The good news is that those in power can no longer count on the forgetfulness of the masses in regards to the unintended consequences of the elite.
Besides surprising things sometimes happen. F.A. Hayek was sure that the US would, using technology, become a totalitarian regime within his lifetime. He even wrote a book about it: The Constitution of Liberty. Oddly enough, ARPANET was begun in 1969, nine years after Hayek published his book. The successor of the ARPANET, the Internet, is quite possibly the best tool around for ensuring free speech around the world.
That’s what the statists fear the most. Unable to control the flow of information, they cannot exert social control. That failure was one of the main reasons the Berlin Wall came down and could also explain why our intelligence agencies failed to see it coming. After all they were looking at military might and espionage attempts, they weren’t paying attention to the people.
It will be interesting to see what, if any, controls on information control are attempted in this administration. One of the bellwether signs will be the “fairness doctrine” applied to radio talk shows. Those shows are overwhelmingly conservative, something that must stick in the craw of socialists everywhere.
What I do like is that there have been some gross human rights violations that are being addressed. Do I believe he understood them? No. I believe that not too many people anymore understand that the individual is the smallest entity that needs consideration–and that the more creative the individual, the more they should be allowed to function freely–so long as they harm no one. However, I am also reminded of the old Chinese story of the farmer and his horse. It goes like this: A farmer lost his horse. The neighbors came to empathize. They told him that it was a tragedy. He said “We’ll see.” The horse shows up with a herd a week later and the neighbors say “wonderful! lucky you!” and the farmer says “we’ll see” then the son gets up on one of the wild horses and attempts to “break” it in and he gets thrown off the horse, breaking his leg. The neighbors say “How awful!” the farmer says “We’ll see.” The Emperor declares a conscription but the son is passed over because his leg is broken. The neighbors say “How lucky!” the farmer says, “We’ll see.”
Am I silly enough to think that no. 44 is more interested is anything other than getting himself re-elected? No. But I think that he appears to be a thoughtful man in some ways. I don’t plan to join his workgroups. I don’t want to see what they might evolve into. However, I do see that a lot of people are becoming more active in their neighborhoods because of all that no 44 stands for. I see that people are acting a little kinder to each other. It is a start. Where it will lead, I don’t know. but the world could use a little kindness right now on a global scale. I am also aware that war is not much of a kindness to anyone.
I enjoyed reading Imperator03′s intellectual points and counter points.
F.A. Hayek very thoughtfully qualified his writings with the terms “possible, probable, and necessary.” Understanding the distinction between these self-appointed terms is very important when reading and interpreting his brilliant work. My personal interpretation is that Friedrich Hayek may have thought it “probable” that Western Civilization, as he knew it, would collapse in his lifetime; however, he did not think that this was [necessary] i.e. an absolute certainty that Western Civilization would collapse in his lifetime. Throughout his writings he continually acknowledged unknown variables, such as technology along with the unpredictable will of the people, and how that could change any of his extrapolated outcomes. Time does not permit listing all the things that make Hayek’s work great. Both his implied and direct acknowledgement that the future is not completely known by any man or woman, including himself, are counted among his fine attributes as a man and an author.
Most of the time we, as humans, can only assign what is possible or probable. Less often can we say what is going to be certain or necessary.
In my opinion, “the old Chinese story of the farmer and his horse” that libertarian speaks about in his comments perfectly illustrates the difficulty one faces in making predictions about the future.
I will stick my neck out and make this educated guess: if you are under the age of forty, no, make that 50, I think it’s safe to say that the chance of western civilization collapsing in your lifetime is more than possible; it’s probable, but not necessary. If certain conditions are met, the world can continue to “muddle through.” F.A Hayek spoke of the various conditions in his book ” The Road To Serfdom. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read, as I do, the thoughts of a great mind.
Reality Seeker
You certainly have a way with words. “Greased lightning.” You actually had me visualizing that unique display of light. In fact your article is sprinkled with colorful phrases and ignited with passages of descriptive wisdom.
Socialists and other big government advocates swing wildly at leaves, scattering them in all directions. It seems the winds of unforeseen change eventually blow them into a rotting pile of death—a pile of death that these liberty violators attempt to scatter once again without much success. Is it any wonder that the stench of decay permeates the atmosphere?
By the way, I advise anyone desiring to put pizzazz into his or her writing to read and study your article.
Robert A. Meyer
Can humanity ever awaken from its infatuation with socialism? Perhaps if there are more libertarians in the media who could compete against the leftist drivel churned out by Marxist propaganda machines, then maybe the lies socialism is propagating could at least be minimized or reduced.
Perhaps when that happens, we will be able to field a libertarian to run for presidential candidate but till then, every libertarian must struggle against the rising tide of collectivism and statism in their midst.